2012.02.06 05.31 100928 three songs 100920 small towns 100919 best dollar stores 100918 KW day two 100917 Waterloo via Galt 100914 Facebook Humbug 100908a Portraits at Forest Hill 100908 new family member 100907 bears raccoons 100906 frightened, bikes gone 100812 tug of war 100803 monday at centrepoint mall 100802 sunday with my folks 100300 march 2010 091200 december 2009 090800 august 2009 090600 june 2009 090400 april 2009 090300 march 2009 index2006 back to 2005-2006 index2004 back to 2003-2004 archive unmodified old essays and pix

100802 sunday with my folks I figured I'd start by writing things down, last thing first. I used Microsoft Excel, and wanted to use the time to sort with. The first real problem was that I crossed the midnight time, and sorting doesn't work as well if there is a Zero in the middle of the list. So I faked times, calling midnight 2400, 1am became 2500 and so on. I hope you approve. I also really rushed this. If it takes too long to record, I give up halfway through it, without saving it onto the server. Then it doesn't get finished at all. So you will find plenty of problems with today's entry. But I'm experimenting with using a table, so that instead of just starting each paragraph with a number, the time is there instead. 1600 It's Sunday and a late start. But glad to hang out with my folks on sundays for whatever we have in mind. Last week I shopped at Giant Tiger and I picked up a hearing aid that looks like a bluetooth headset. It was only 15.00 and has 3 different soft earbuds. It seems like just the ticket for Mom, who has bad hearing, and has trouble getting other hearing devices to fit her right. I've seen really good products at the dollar store. Their only problem is how they use disposable pill sized lithium batteries. This unit was rechargeable. I hope she likes it. 1700 Mom, Dad and I went to the Parc Downsview Park. I dislike bilingualism sometimes. In an effort to be politically correct most federal things including Downsview Park, are labelled in French and English. They do this kind of thing in Ottawa as well: Rue Belmont Street. We went to the flea market there. I wanted strawberries, and they were on sale, but only if I was prepared to buy a flat of them, or 4 lbs for $5. I wasn't ready to buy that many perishables at once. 1800 The three of us went to the plaza where the tech direct is. I got a new USB mouse for the new eeepc netbook. It's big, but it was only $5. We went into Almost Perfect, the thrift food store. It used to be a great place to shop, now it's mediocre. I got a big bottle of Heinz Thai chili sauce, just to see how it tasted. I have opened it, and it's like spicy ketchup. It's not sweet chili sauce, the kind for Asian children to pour onto chicken. But it's close. It's not barbecue sauce. It is a huge container for commercial use. 1900 My folks drop me off at sheppard station. I pick up this month's metropass. I guess I do this as a convenience, because I won't actually need it enough to actually make it pay for itself. The TTC treats pass customer with far more respect than those who pay cash or tickets. People who pay money have to take a transfer, a thin slip of newsprint, and not maim it in any way, so it's a legible fare on the next buses. But most people nervously ruin it, and when it's inspected, they are advised to deposit another fare. 2000 I tell myself I should just leave, but for some reason stay and make some fried salami. It was very good. My fridges are so very cold, and so the unsliced meat seems to keep forever. 2100 I should have left much earlier, but I was in a depressive funk. I felt lonely. Also just as I left the folk's minivan, we got into a lecture. I asked them to keep their eyes open for a discarded barbecue. They felt it would get me evicted from here. I've had bad luck with single use barbecues. I digress. At 9pm I finally got my ass out the door again with the bike to go somewhere rather than sit and play more fishdom. I've been doing far too much of that. It's a good game but it's waay addictive. 2200 I arrived at Starbucks at College and Yonge. In a way it was a bad choice. They do have electricity, but they don't have it near the computer tables they've installed along the wall. So I had to curl up on a soft chair with the netbook on small coffee table to chat. 2400 Starbucks closed, but it always takes me a while to set up my bike for use. I guess I carry too much. 2415 I left stx as their last customer and decided to bike to Queen's Park station, so I could use the elevator rather than deal with stairs again. I realized that this meant I would have to take the shuttle rather than get the train all the way home. Sigh. 2430 I left the train at Eglinton station. It seemed so hot! It wasn't so hot earlier. It was nice downtown. 2445 I got onto the third shuttle bus, since the first two were so full. So many kids, but they were nice enough. Naiive tho. None of them knew why the shuttles were running and why it took so very long. 2500 My bike got loose during the loop at york mills stn, got out and fixed that! I usually stand near the front of the bus just so I can watch and see if the bike gets loose during transit. It did! It happened as he turned a corner. 2510 Got out at sheppard stn, biked home from there 2530 Finished emergency BM back at home computer

tell Dave to do this more often